Category Archives: Beauty Reviews

The Renaissance, or ‘rebirth’ was a cultural movement that first had its roots in Florence, Italy, before spreading to the rest of Europe. This period of time lasted from the 1300s to the 1600s. It is believed that the Renaissance was born in Florencedue to the influence of the Medici family, who were patrons of the arts. They encouraged the commissioning of art and encouraged others to follow suit as well. The rethinking of arts and culture lead to a significant influence and change in the way people saw humans, art, religion and science.

The Female Ideal

Although there are some aspects of female beauty that are similar to today, there are others that are quite different. From what can be gathered, the ideal female had more flesh and thicker arms and legs compared to today’s ideal. The imagined woman would be voluptuous and have a full figure. Her bust would appear full with no signs of bones. The ideal female would also have pale skin, much unlike tanned look that is popular in our modern era. To accompany this desired skin was blond hair, which made women appear more youthful than dark locks.

In terms of facial features, women with delicate features were prized. This included having soft features such as thin eyebrows, large eyes, a high forehead, pink cheeks and curly hair. Also, the female would typically have a well-defined nose and a small mouth.

Cosmetics During the Renaissance Period

Like during any other age, with a female ideal came the pressure for women to fit this ideal image. Since having a high forehead was considered beautiful, women whose foreheads were not high would resort to plucking their hairline to give the appearance of a higher forehead. Women also plucked their eyebrows and used lead pencils to darken their eyebrows.

Like in any other period in time, smooth skin was highly valued because it represented youthfulness and health. Women would use cold creams to moisturize their skin. These creams were scented oils made from olives. Unfortunately, there were also some harmful forms of skin moisturizers that contained mercury and sulfur, which were meant to be applied to the face.

During the Renaissance, well-born European women plucked out hairs, one by one, from their natural hairline all the way back to the crowns of their heads, to give them the high rounded foreheads thought to be beautiful at the time. Those who didn’t want to resort to plucking used poultices of vinegar mixed with cat dung or quick-lime. The latter often removed some of the skin as well as the hair.

Tip: For an even fairer look, you could also try the old Renaissance beauty trick of applying leeches to your ears. The leeches would drain the blood from your head giving you that I am about to swoon look.

Typically, white powders such as ground alabaster were spread on the face to give the appearance of fair skin. Rouge existed in red and pink colors for women to apply to their lips and cheeks to give a “glowing” look. Women during this time also used their Renaissance version of eyeliner and mascara. Kohl, a dark mineral based powder, was a popular substance for eyeliner. Also, women oiled their eyelashes in order to create the illusion of darker, thicker eyelashes.

Strawberry blond hair was considered the ideal hair color during this period of time. Women thus resorted to coloring their hair through bleaching methods. They used a variety of ingredients from saffron to sulfur and turmeric to give their hair the desired look. Firstly, they would apply a product with lye in it to rid their hair of its natural color before applying the dye. They would then spend long periods of time under the sun to bleach their hair. To avoid tanning their skin or getting freckles, women would wear layers of clothing and wear wide-brimmed hats with the top cut out to expose only the hair to the sun, which were known as the Venetian Hats.

Italian women also practiced putting drops of belladonna, an herb, into their eyes. This would create the desired effect of making their eyes sparkle and make their eyes look wider. Unfortunately, it also led to poisoning and permanently harmed their vision with extended use.

Renaissance Beauty Tips – Makeup

The Paler the Better
During the Renaissance, alabaster skin was the look du jour. The paler your skin, the more beautiful and healthy-looking you were considered.

If a woman was not naturally blessed with pale skin, there were a variety of ways by which they could achieve this look – often making use of compounds quite dangerous to their health. These compounds included lead oxide, hydroxide, carbonate, mercury, and vermilion. Over time, these compounds often contributed to various health problems (like muscle paralysis) and even to early death.

One beauty routine developed to really enhance that pale effect was to first apply raw eggs to the face as a “primer.” Next, lead and vinegar were mixed together to make a thick, ceruse-colored foundation which was applied liberally to the face and neck. If they really wanted to have that “dead” or “statue” look, ladies would use blue paint and a thin brush to apply thin “veins” to the forehead and breasts!

A Little Color in Your Cheeks
Even though an overall palor was desired, women of the Renaissance still used just a touch of color on their cheekbones. An often used rouge recipe was to mix mercury with a lead-based powder. This mixture would be applied lightly to the cheekbones, and – in some cases – to their chests in order to draw attention to the bust.

The Glazed Look
Women would brush their made-up faces all over with egg whites to create a healthy “glazed look.’ This was done to make them appear more like marble statues.

Bring in the Leeches!
Another Renaissance beauty trick was to apply leeches to the ears. The leeches would drain the blood from the head, giving them that much desired paleness. This practice was actually healthier than most of the other methods used!

Beauty Marks and Beauty Patches
The use of artificial beauty marks and fabric beauty patches came into favor in the Renaissance. Beauty marks were most often drawn in order to hide pimples or other marks. Beauty patches, small fabric patches cut into various shapes (stars, moons, and circles for example), to cover holes in the skin caused by the use of lead makeup!

The Strange Case of Signora Toffana
Late in the Italian Renaissance, around the time of the English Renaissance, an Italian woman named Signora Toffana took the concept of pale skin to a new high – or low. She developed a special face powder, made from arsenic, that she not only urged women to use to achieve that desired corpse-like complexion, but to especially wear it around their husbands. This arsenic powder is said to have resulted in the death of some 600 husbands! Eventually, Signora Toffana was arrested and executed for causing these deaths.

Royal Beauty Secrets
The royal women of the Renaissance were considered beauty icons and many women followed their beauty secrets to the letter. Two of the more unusual royal practices included Catherine de Medici’s use of pigeon dung on her face to get that dewy, young complexion, and the habit of Mary Queen of Scots to bathe in wine to keep herself looking young.

Do You Want that Renaissance Look?
Would you like to see how you might have looked during the Renaissance had you followed the cosmetic tips of the time? Here’s how to do it!

1. Apply the lightest color foundation that looks good on your skin.

2. To set the foundation, brush your face with a very white loose powder.

The term for a makeup artist in Egyptian hieroglyphic is derived from the root “sesh,” which means, “to write, to engrave.” Makeup application was taken pretty seriously back then: the same accuracy was needed to paint lips as to write out a text. (FYI: By “text” I mean etching symbols into a rock, not typing out a message on your iPhone.)

Perfume was central to Egyptian civilization and was used for both cosmetic and medical purposes. For example, Kyphi, one of the most famous Egyptian perfumes, made from flowers, honey, wine and berries, was also prepared as a drink to cure lung, intestinal, and liver problems. That said, don’t go chugging a bottle of Chanel No. 5 to cure your next hangover.

In ancient Greece, the most sought-after hair color was blond. Not many Greeks were naturally blond, so light hair was probably perceived as beautiful because it was so exotic. Women would lighten their hair using plant extracts or arsenic! They also washed their locks with a mixture of ashes, olive oil, and water.

People have been playing, “kitchen beautician” since the Middle Ages, when various foods were used as beauty aids. Curdled milk was applied to acne, cucumber juice removed freckles, while boiled nettles produced a smooth, even complexion. Women even attempted to remove wrinkles with the help of ointments made of wax and almond oil, or crocodile fat.

It’s a shame that extensions weren’t available during the Heian Period when a Japanese woman’s beauty was judged by the length of her hair, since the ideal was considered almost two feet longer than her waist. We’re assuming that ponytails were a popular hairstyle back then.

In Renaissance Italy women created the ultimate red lip and cheek stain by mixing cochineal, sandalwood or cinnabar with wax or grease. The application process was complex, but the red color lasted for over a week, even if she washed her face every day.

Despite being called the “Golden Age of Spain,” having a tan was a serious beauty faux pas back then. In an effort to maintain a porcelain complexion, young women would eat clay, even though it often caused anemia or chlorosis. In the late 18th century, members of The French Court such as Marie Antoinette also obsessed over having flawless alabaster skin. They faked it with thick layers of white powder (made out of everything from white lead and talc to pulverized bone) combined with wax, whale blubber, or vegetable oil to give the face makeup a greasy consistency that adhered to the skin.

Lipstick was considered an essential item for female nurses in the armed forces during the Second World War, both to remind women that they were ladies first and military second, and because it might have a calming effect on the male soldiers. (Although most experts now say that guys get really turned on when a girl wears red lipstick.)

Before L’Oréal launched the first mass market hairspray in 1960, women had to choose between slicking their hair down with a greasy brilliantine or using a mechanical sprayer to coat it with shellac dissolved in a solution of water and alcohol.

A 1991 study showed that female politicians who employed Hollywood makeup artists and photographers were 30% more likely to win elections, simply by grooming her eyebrows, wearing certain colored blouses, and smiling. Too bad that strategy didn’t work for Sarah Palin.